Have you ever sat there and pondered: are these simple things such as; practicing my guitar, or coming up with a exercise plan really going to benefit me in the end? Well, the answer is...yes!
Nerve cell communication skills increase higher once they are in better usage. The way this works is the process of a neuron’s electrical activity trigging other cells to rub on a safe coating that makes messages and signals travel much faster. A study once published in August 4 in Science proves this, similar to insulation around electrical wires; myelin wraps around the message-sending axons. This helps protect and speed up the electrical impulses. Something I'm sure you're not aware of is brain cells called "oligodendrocytes" which safely wraps up to 150 layers of this insulation around a single axon. This process continues when neurons sends an electrical signal plus the chemical messenger glutamate is released.
Mouse neurons were treated so they were unable to release glutamate; Hiroaki Wake of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md. and colleagues found out that they had lower levels of myelin. When they activated "normal" axons, boosting them with glutamate production they also found out that the new term oligodendrocytes produced more of the fatty proteins that make up the myelin coating. In the end, results showed that one way that the brain quickly adapts and improves is when a person practices new tasks, skills or routines.
The oligodendrocytes (green) wraps insulating myelin around neurons' message carrier axon (purple): Axon's electrical activity may start this process according to new studies.
After being a representative of the Protestant group my beliefs have shifted towards their mindset. When talking about the use of embryonic stem cells from existing cell lines, I believe it should be controlled. After the 14 day mark it is considered to be at a "multi potent stage" which can be compared to killing a living human. As a punishment a jail sentence of 2 years and job loss should be in place. The same thought process goes towards the use of embryonic stem cells from embryos created by therapeutic cloning, and embryonic stem cells from embryos created by IVF only for research, I believe it is belittling the value of human life which should be penalized with a 15,000$ fee and loss of ability to work in the laboratory as well. The only aspect of stem cells I am strongly for is the use of embryonic stem cells from discarded embryos from IVF clinics. If there is so much good that can come from developing the stem cell instead of just putting it to waste. Instead it should be used to their fullest to cure many diseases and disorders around the world. ~Homework #3 The Hot Zone: Part 1 Although this book did not really strike my normal personal reading interests I still found this book to be semi interesting. For starters, the Hot Zone is a fiction novel that involves four pathogens that are all filoviruses such as Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Reston and the Marburg virus. The novel first begins to tell you about the main character Charles Monet a man in Kenya, Africa who took a vacation to Mount Elgon with a girl. Several days after Charles then develops a virus from Kitum Cave and has to be flown to a hospital, where he "crashes and bleeds out". What happened to him was very unexpected and extraordinary, that no one had ever saw before. He had a constant headache, his face was expressionless and red eyes, as well as vomitting up the black contain that contained the virus itself. Once arriving at the hospital in Nairob, Dr. Musoke looked after him over to inherit some of Clarles' vomit into one of his eyes. Soon after, Charles Monet falls into a deadly a coma and is not able to successfully recover himself since his body practically liquified itself. In results he passed away of the deadly virus while Dr. Musoke contracts the virus but luckily is able to survive after 10 days. This virus is later to be discovered as the Marburg virus, a filovirus and a close relative of the Elbola virus.This is seen to be a large panic especially in the hospital where the doctors and nurses working there dealt with Charles Monet and Dr. Musoke but it was luckily just the two of them. Although in all surprise, 4 years later it begins to talk about the Jaax family who are two people working for the military at the Insitute. Nancy works in bio level 4 room dealing with Ebola, a strain of Marburg, so a filovirus. She has a very close encounter with it she blood droplets get through her space suit glove and second layer only to be saved by the rubber gloves that protected her from the blood getting into her opened wound so she remains successfully healthy. Later on Nancy learns with the helping hand of Gene Johnson that the strains of virus can be transmitted through air when they conduct experiments on monkeys who are 20 feet apart and in result all become sick and die, even those who were left controlled were effected. Striked with curiosity Gene Johnson takes a team to Kitum Cave himself in strong hopes of finding Ebola or Marburg in its natural habit but had no such luck.
The part that really captured my attention was when Nancy Jaaz almost had the exposure in the bio lab. Although I have questioned careers choices of this I feel as though I am almost set by after reading this book. It opened my mind to the many possibilities of how dangerous a biohazards level 4 room. Just the thought of working in a level 4 lab alone sounds more frightening now.
~Homework #4 The Hot Zone: Part 2
Following the first part of the Hot Zone is Part 2 about a monkey house in Reston, Virginia. Here monkeys were imported from the Philippines and sold throughout various places across the country. The turning point in this section is when one of the main workers, Dan Dalgard, notices that some of the monkeys are suddenly getting sick. At first he is slightly worried because this is a problem that he should have not had to worry about due to the fact that the monkeys were suppose to be checked as healthy before entering the country. Before he knows it the illness is quickly spreading to the rest of the monkeys in that room of the monkey house and continues to the others. The monkeys therefore as dying. It is suspected to be a case of Simian fever–a disease that is very serious to monkeys but does no harm to humans. Although this is a harsh battle he more happy doing it able then when Amy becomes involved. An intern at USAMRIID photographs the virons inside a piece of a monkey meat sent from the monkey house and believes that he has then observed a fiolvirus, specifically Marburg. The heads of the department are called to discover the conferment and as of this Nancy Jaaz is assigned to dissect some monkeys and figure out what type of virus it really is in the end. Once it is dissected, Nancy can't tell whether it is Ebola Zaire or Marburg or maybe even a mutation of both. The institution is going into a panic. Deadly fiolviruses such as these are never seen outside of Africa, yet alone outside Washington D.C. If it is discovered to be one of these viruses; the city could be in serious danger. In result, the C.D.C is called in and two teams are made up. The C.D.C will be in charge of citizens at risk and USAMRIID will look after the monkey house itself and the monkeys inside. Jerry Jaax, Nancy's husband, is assigned head of the job.
During this section of the book what really surprised me in this chapter was Jerry's brothers death. The reasoning behind this is because there is no purpose behind it. By the end of the book what my hopes are is that it will come back up in the story. Im uncertain why the author put that in there. Another mystery to me is aNancy's mom who is sick and dying. The only generalization I can make is that the author is just doing this to create suspense. Another part that stuck out to me was when they first discovered Ebola in the Washington D.C area. It really made me think of us here in Fredericton and the same value of damage it would do to our city.
~Homework #5 The Hot Zone: Part 3
Section three starts off when an assembled team of the army moves in to kill the rest of the monkeys. The team luckily gets the job done without many flaws which concludes to the news reporters not receiving any information. Following up on this a new quicker way to test is developed to see if there is signs of Ebola but none of the workers have any signs to work with. When Nancy Jaax's dad ends up dying although the army leaves the building and hands it back over to the arms of Dalgard. A few months later they receive another virus killing an outmost 80% of the monkeys which seems like it may be more like a flu.The strain mutates but somehow it just easily passes through humans without actually killing. In the end they just let the monkeys die on their own without any help.
In this chapter once again another family member of Nancy's dies but there is no significant trace to why that connects with the story. Another factor that was a shock was how quickly the ebola strain mutated into a flue like virus called Ebola Reston.It it was deadly it wold have called an epidemic such like how quickly H5N5 virus could mutate and that if it became suddenly contagious everyone would be in giant trouble.
~Homework #6 The Hot Zone: Part 4
At the very end of this book in the last section of the book Richard Preston, the author talks about his own personal experience in the hunting down of the ebola virus and showing off his opinions. He started off by talking about his trip to Africa and a highway called "Aids Highway". He explains how the aids disease spread rapidly amongst humans, says how ebola virus could do the very same. He brings you back to the beginning of the novel where it call began in Africa on his trip is to visit Kitum Cave where Charles Monet who contracted the virus and soon enough died. Richard goes into further dept about the cave by explaining that everything he saw. He talked how you could seeing aligator teeth from long ago before the cave and mountain was ice, and about all of the buffalo and elephant tracks that were there within the cave. He later noticed spiders and webs that he thought to himself at that moment that spiders could be the animals that are the vector of this disease. They could easily bite humans and infect them. He then finishes the story by going to the monkey house to look through window and notices plants growing inside and knowing that "It will be back".
In my personal onion I do not think that the author could have ender the book in a better ending. Although it as a very long book and hard to read at some points throughout the middle it made it all worthwhile. The author looking for ebola or writing about his own experience came out of no where for me. I enjoyed how he shared his own experience and thoughts. Another surprise was Richard's thoughts on the possibility of it being spiders to be the vector to this virus when even the highest ranked scientists in virology couldn't figure out the carrier. In the end this book still leaves lingering thoughts of if they have discovered where ebola hides and if not, how come they have yet to do so. Knowing that there is a chance "It will be back" is frightening because we cant tell or know how deadly or contagious the new strain will be in the possible future.
~Personal Post #1 Epidemic in History: H1N1
H1N1 is epidemic in history that we can all relate to. Swine flu came from pigs which people usually do not get, but that all changed in March 2009. The effects consisted of fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The was taken very seriously since it could spread very quickly from person to person.
Unfortunately, swine flu is a respiratory infection. It weakens your immune system to attack major organs...especially your lungs. From there it can lead to pneumonia, which can kill you. The flu can also cause secondary infections in your body — any of which can lead to failure of vital organs and death.
~Personal Post #2 Alcohols' Underestimated Effects
It is not hard to say that alcohol has a noticable effect on a person's behavior whether it be blurred vision, difficultly walking or fractured memory. All of this which goes without saying that alcohol has an effect on the brain.
Alcohol does not just effect one part of the brain, but several. It contracts brain tissue and depresses the central nervous system as well as destroys multiple brain cells that cannot regenerate. Once it reaches the brain it messes with the messaging between nerve cells by interacting with the receptors on some cells. The result of this effects the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA that gives a person the familiar sluggish feeling.
Some may say these effects are not too bad until it comes to the point where alcoholics are in play. An alcoholic is said to have a smaller, shrunken brain according to Symposium speakers at the October 2004 Congress for the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Mannheim, Germany. Your brain has an outside layer known as the cerebral cortex that controls most of your activities. This is filled with nerve cells that connect to different cortical regions plus neurons inside the brain and spinal cord. These nerve fibres make white matter which has the 'hard wiring' of the brain. Alcohol appears to be particularly harmful to the "white matter" or "hard wiring" of the brain that follows to cause shrinkage or retraction of neuronal dendrites. The only way to be 100% safe is with abstinence. Resources:Blood alcohol . (2006-2011). Retrieved from http://www.bloodalcohol.info/how-alcohol-affects-the-brain.php University of Sydney (2006, June 10).Cause of brain shrinkage in alcoholics studied. Retrieved from http://alcoholism.about.com/od/brain/a/blus050614.htm
Meditation is a practice of concentrated focused on: a sound, object, visualization, breath, or movement. It helps reduce stress, increase relaxation and enhance personal plus spiritual development.
Those who take the time out of their schedules regularly to meditate will overall feel a boosted feel of calmness. This fact is proven by neuroscientists that say by altering brain-wave patterns, the discipline removes negative thoughts. Meditators are also calmer in simple aspects of life such as their response to stress. They are said to have a better performance at tasks that require more focused attention. Other researchers also think that the same brain changes could boost physical benefits such as: lowering blood pressure or preventing disease.
In 2005 Dalai Lama lectured at Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. about himself meditatating for 4 hours daily, but it is hard work. He suggested that if neuroscientists could find a method to put electrodes in his brain to create the same outcome he would be first in line. That being said, a set of experiments are now in process from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University to make his wish a reality. They managed to induce in mice a brainwave pattern assoicated with meditation.
Unfortunately for the past week I have been stuck in bed with pneumonia..so what better time to do a wiki post than this?
For starters lets clarify what pneumonia really is, I know when the doctor told me I wasn't entirely sure either. Pneumonia in simpliest form is the infection of the lungs that is caused by fungi, or parasites but mainly bacteria and viruses. When you breathe in pneumonia-causing germs into your lungs your body's immune system cannot otherwise prevent entry. The organisms will settle in small air sacs called alveoli and from there will multiply. As your body sends out their white blood cells to attack the infection-the sacs become filed with fluid and pus, therefore causing pneumonia. At times it can be a very serious condition, pneumonia can make a person very sick or even cause death- super fun fact...The disease can occur in young and healthy people, but it is most dangerous for older adults, and babies. Common symptoms your body may go through are:
Cough
Rusty or green mucus (sputum) coughed up from lungs
Fever
Fast breathing and shortness of breath
Shaking chills
Chest pain that usually worsens when taking a deep breath (pleuritic pain)
Fast heartbeat
Fatigueand feeling very weak
Nausea and vomiting
Sweating
Severe headaches
Muscle pain
Confusion or delirium
Dusky or purplish skin color (cyanosis) from poorly oxygenated blood
To be diagnosed it begins with a physical exam and a discussion about your symptoms and medical history. A doctor may suspect pneumonia if they hear coarse breathing, wheezing, crackling sounds, or rumblings when listening to the chest through a stethoscope. This can follow with an x-ray to confirm the location and extent in the lungs.
Luckily there is a cure that is treated with antibiotics in my case, whereas viral pneumonias are treated with rest and plenty of fluids and fungal pneumonias are usually treated with antifungal medications. Although in all cases it is important to purchase over-the-counter medications for reducing fever, reducing aches and pains, and suppressing coughs.
~Personal Post #5 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder affects about 2.2 million adults. It is an anxiety disorder that has the results of recurrent, unwanted thoughts(obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors(compulsions). This is commonly shown through obsessive hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. This problem is normally accompanied by eating disorders, other anxiety disorders, or depression which can lead to alcohol addictions to calm the situation. This is very close to my heart. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has been something that effected me at a young age and lingers into the life that I still life today. My parents always tell me stories of how I used to go to the supermarket's and would organize all the shelves, or would cry until I got something done perfect.
If someone is obsessed with germs or dirt, this is where the compulsion to repeatly wash their hands comes into play. If someone is obsessed with intruders, they may lock and relock their doors over and over before heading to bed. If someone is afraid of social embarrassment, they may comb their hair compulsively in front of a mirror until perfect. If someone is struggling with order and symmetry, they could struggle with throwing things out or letting go which can lead to a common term of hoarding.
Yes, I'm sure just because these signs are there doesn't always conclude to OCD. The difference is that people who do have OCD perform these trials even when it starts to interfere with their lives. Symptoms are capable of coming and going, easing or worsening. Fortunately, in conclusion; medications are available when needed which can be achieved after visiting a family doctor that you are comfortable speaking to that can lead you to the right direction and better life.
It is a very well known fact that pimples are something that no one ever enjoys. It hard to think why it has to happen to you and how to get rid of the nasty little problem best. A pimple is a small papule (solid, rounded bumps that arise from the skin) or pustule (a small rounded bump filled with puss). Pimples are oil glands that are infected by bacteria and eventually fill with puss. What causes pimples is the sebaceous glands that are tiny skin glands which sebum (an oily substance that is used to lubricate the skin and hair) overacts. The sebaceous glands are located inside the pores of your skin. Pimples are known to occur when dead skin cells are left behind and are stuck together by the sticky sebum, which then causes a blockage in your pores. Then once the blockage happens the sebum has a bacteria called "Propionibacterium acnes". This leads to acne which is a harmless bacteria but concludes in the problem of pimples.
The best ways to prevent acne is to mostly wash your face with warm water and soap gently, do not pop your pimples because that could lead to scarring and ultimately increase the swelling and redness, avoid touching your face, wash and use antibacterial products, and keep your hair clean so oils and sebum from your hair will not clog up your pores either.
Another way to think of it is that ultimately you are what you eat.
If you are a lover of green tea it is an anti-oxidant an anti-inflammatory agent that'll actually keep bacteria at ease.
Water is a way that you know that you are never going wrong. A plentiful of water will refresh your pores and your whole body.
Mangoes have a plentiful amount of vitamin A which will help and repair your skin. This can help prevent your skin from looking flakily and dry. Cottage Cheese has selenium which can equal to young looking skin Almonds are much like cottage cheese in the sense that it will prevent premature aging skin and helps keep it well moisturized. Lastly, avocados help skin that is red irritated or even blotchy.
Exams are creeping up on us again and ultimately the answer to this is lack of sleep. For whatever reason it may be that keeps you up at night, a long night most of the time will always end up in a long day. Sleep deprivation is something that has become almost too normal and underestimated. Whether it be exams, stress, relationship issues or what have you it is a problem that is unhealthily and non-beneficial for everyone that can lead to insomnia. Insomnia is a common sleeping disorder that involves people who struggle falling asleep, staying asleep or even sometimes both. They may get too little sleep sometimes or have poor sleeping qualities in general. This can conclude to not feeling refreshed when they wake up and the chances of having a less successful day. It can lasts for a month or longer. It can make you feel anxious, depressed, or irritable. You could easily struggle staying on task, paying attention, learning and even remembering. All of this as you can imagine can make stop you for exceeding your best at school or your day to day life. It is possible to cure this problem and the sooner the better. In order to cure this problem it is best if you start away from caffeine, tobacco and other stimulants because the effects of these substances can last for as long as 8 hours unknowingly. Another way to help insomnia is to cut back on certain over the counter prescription medicines, and alcohol usage. Instead of all of these things try doing things before bed that winds you down such as reading a book, taking a bath or soothing music and having a sleeping schedule that remains the same even on weekends.
References: National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Insitute. (2011). What is insomnia?. Retrieved from website: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/inso/ ~Personal Post #8 Twins Twins are formed after sexual reproduction when the egg of the female has been fertilized by the males sperm. For everyone else, the cell just begins to grow and multiply like most cases. Although the difference is for twins the cell separates into two cells with the same nucleus. Since both cells have identical nucleus' the chromosones inside of those nucleus' are the same, and that's how twins are made. Although regardless of what you've heard, twins are not completely identical. Though their cells are identical, the genetic information carried by the mitochondria are different. A different set of twins is fraternal twins which is when the mother drops two eggs down instead of one, and they each are fertilized by a different sperm. Fraternal twins is also a hereditary trait, carried by the mother's side of the family instead of the fathers.The last set of twins is conjoined twins that is very rare and happens when the cell divides into twins too late.
Like many other people I have developed the habit of the dreadful cracking and popping of my knuckles. Regardless of how many times I hear that I'm going to get arthritis when Im older I can't stop. Although this got me thinking of what that popping sound really is when Im cracking them, is it as harmful as everyone leads on? Studies show that there is no connection between cracking knuckles and arthritis at all. All of this time all that it has been was a myth. Although they did not prove a link between the two there was evidence that very excessive knuckle cracking could cause a loss of grip strength or even swelling around the joints. All of the times when you are cracking your knuckles or what have you, you are subjecting the tendons and bones to an unnatural pressure. Over a long period of time, body tissues do not recover from such manipulations as they used to. This can create the same types of joint pain as professional athletes endue. So, is it's not harming you what is that sound that you hear? When you crack your knuckles, the popping is a gas bubble escaping from between your joints. The knuckles bone ligaments and tendons are surrounded by a think liquid that is called "synovial fluid". Over time, this fluid then becomes filled with tiny bubbles of fas. Whenever you push or pull on the joints to crack them, the tendons and ligaments then become stretched out and the knuckle bone separate slightly. When the synovial fluid tries to fill in this gap, the gas bubbles combine to form one large bubble. This bubble then makes the familiar cracking noise to make room for the fluid to fill in the space between your knuckle bones again which after approx. 25-30 minutes there should then be enough gas built up to start all over again.
~Personal Post #10 The Hot Zone - Spin Off: HIV The Hot Zone touched base on AIDS. The most common knowledge is that AIDS comes from the virus HIV. Aids(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) which is caused by HIV(Human Immuno-deficiency Virus), is known as one of the most known sexually-transmitted diseases known. It first started to appear 25 years ago and quickly made it's way around the world. Today there is 3 million cases all throughout the world. But where did this come from? HIV came from chimpanzees living in Central Africa. Authorities say that the virus strain has been found throughout the chimps for thousands of years. It is known as an RNA virus that can mutate into many different strains that can affect many different hosts in its path. Researchers claim that HIV must have entered humans in African hunter's bodies perhaps through wounds while hunting the chimps and from there made it's trip. HIV does not directly make you sick but weakens your immune system making get ill easier. The strain of virus enters your body and attacks your CD4 T cells and then replicates. The virus then begins to kill these cells without warning or any symptoms. The CD4 T cell depletion during AIDS allows various pathogens to escape T cell recognition, thus allowing infections that would normally elicit a helper T cell response to bypass the immune system. The being the case after years of living with this disease, your body is no longer strong enough to fight. The worst part about HIV is that there is no cure but researchers will never stop trying to fight off this horrible disease.
Victoria Theriault's Bio 111 Wiki:)
~Homework #1 Nerve Cell Benefits from Exercise
Have you ever sat there and pondered: are these simple things such as; practicing my guitar, or coming up with a exercise plan really going to benefit me in the end? Well, the answer is...yes!Nerve cell communication skills increase higher once they are in better usage. The way this works is the process of a neuron’s electrical activity trigging other cells to rub on a safe coating that makes messages and signals travel much faster. A study once published in August 4 in Science proves this, similar to insulation around electrical wires; myelin wraps around the message-sending axons. This helps protect and speed up the electrical impulses. Something I'm sure you're not aware of is brain cells called "oligodendrocytes" which safely wraps up to 150 layers of this insulation around a single axon. This process continues when neurons sends an electrical signal plus the chemical messenger glutamate is released.
Mouse neurons were treated so they were unable to release glutamate; Hiroaki Wake of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md. and colleagues found out that they had lower levels of myelin. When they activated "normal" axons, boosting them with glutamate production they also found out that the new term oligodendrocytes produced more of the fatty proteins that make up the myelin coating. In the end, results showed that one way that the brain quickly adapts and improves is when a person practices new tasks, skills or routines.
Resource:
Saunders, L. (2011, August 4). How exercise benefits nerve cells. Retrieved from http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/333026/title/How_exercise_benefits_nerve_cells
~Homework #2 Stem Cell Research Opinion
After being a representative of the Protestant group my beliefs have shifted towards their mindset. When talking about the use of embryonic stem cells from existing cell lines, I believe it should be controlled. After the 14 day mark it is considered to be at a "multi potent stage" which can be compared to killing a living human. As a punishment a jail sentence of 2 years and job loss should be in place. The same thought process goes towards the use of embryonic stem cells from embryos created by therapeutic cloning, and embryonic stem cells from embryos created by IVF only for research, I believe it is belittling the value of human life which should be penalized with a 15,000$ fee and loss of ability to work in the laboratory as well. The only aspect of stem cells I am strongly for is the use of embryonic stem cells from discarded embryos from IVF clinics. If there is so much good that can come from developing the stem cell instead of just putting it to waste. Instead it should be used to their fullest to cure many diseases and disorders around the world.~Homework #3 The Hot Zone: Part 1
Although this book did not really strike my normal personal reading interests I still found this book to be semi interesting.
For starters, the Hot Zone is a fiction novel that involves four pathogens that are all filoviruses such as Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Reston and the Marburg virus. The novel first begins to tell you about the main character Charles Monet a man in Kenya, Africa who took a vacation to Mount Elgon with a girl. Several days after Charles then develops a virus from Kitum Cave and has to be flown to a hospital, where he "crashes and bleeds out". What happened to him was very unexpected and extraordinary, that no one had ever saw before. He had a constant headache, his face was expressionless and red eyes, as well as vomitting up the black contain that contained the virus itself. Once arriving at the hospital in Nairob, Dr. Musoke looked after him over to inherit some of Clarles' vomit into one of his eyes. Soon after, Charles Monet falls into a deadly a coma and is not able to successfully recover himself since his body practically liquified itself. In results he passed away of the deadly virus while Dr. Musoke contracts the virus but luckily is able to survive after 10 days. This virus is later to be discovered as the Marburg virus, a filovirus and a close relative of the Elbola virus.This is seen to be a large panic especially in the hospital where the doctors and nurses working there dealt with Charles Monet and Dr. Musoke but it was luckily just the two of them. Although in all surprise, 4 years later it begins to talk about the Jaax family who are two people working for the military at the Insitute. Nancy works in bio level 4 room dealing with Ebola, a strain of Marburg, so a filovirus. She has a very close encounter with it she blood droplets get through her space suit glove and second layer only to be saved by the rubber gloves that protected her from the blood getting into her opened wound so she remains successfully healthy. Later on Nancy learns with the helping hand of Gene Johnson that the strains of virus can be transmitted through air when they conduct experiments on monkeys who are 20 feet apart and in result all become sick and die, even those who were left controlled were effected. Striked with curiosity Gene Johnson takes a team to Kitum Cave himself in strong hopes of finding Ebola or Marburg in its natural habit but had no such luck.
The part that really captured my attention was when Nancy Jaaz almost had the exposure in the bio lab. Although I have questioned careers choices of this I feel as though I am almost set by after reading this book. It opened my mind to the many possibilities of how dangerous a biohazards level 4 room. Just the thought of working in a level 4 lab alone sounds more frightening now.
~Homework #4 The Hot Zone: Part 2
Following the first part of the Hot Zone is Part 2 about a monkey house in Reston, Virginia. Here monkeys were imported from the Philippines and sold throughout various places across the country. The turning point in this section is when one of the main workers, Dan Dalgard, notices that some of the monkeys are suddenly getting sick. At first he is slightly worried because this is a problem that he should have not had to worry about due to the fact that the monkeys were suppose to be checked as healthy before entering the country. Before he knows it the illness is quickly spreading to the rest of the monkeys in that room of the monkey house and continues to the others. The monkeys therefore as dying. It is suspected to be a case of Simian fever–a disease that is very serious to monkeys but does no harm to humans. Although this is a harsh battle he more happy doing it able then when Amy becomes involved. An intern at USAMRIID photographs the virons inside a piece of a monkey meat sent from the monkey house and believes that he has then observed a fiolvirus, specifically Marburg. The heads of the department are called to discover the conferment and as of this Nancy Jaaz is assigned to dissect some monkeys and figure out what type of virus it really is in the end. Once it is dissected, Nancy can't tell whether it is Ebola Zaire or Marburg or maybe even a mutation of both. The institution is going into a panic. Deadly fiolviruses such as these are never seen outside of Africa, yet alone outside Washington D.C. If it is discovered to be one of these viruses; the city could be in serious danger. In result, the C.D.C is called in and two teams are made up. The C.D.C will be in charge of citizens at risk and USAMRIID will look after the monkey house itself and the monkeys inside. Jerry Jaax, Nancy's husband, is assigned head of the job.During this section of the book what really surprised me in this chapter was Jerry's brothers death. The reasoning behind this is because there is no purpose behind it. By the end of the book what my hopes are is that it will come back up in the story. Im uncertain why the author put that in there. Another mystery to me is aNancy's mom who is sick and dying. The only generalization I can make is that the author is just doing this to create suspense. Another part that stuck out to me was when they first discovered Ebola in the Washington D.C area. It really made me think of us here in Fredericton and the same value of damage it would do to our city.
~Homework #5 The Hot Zone: Part 3
Section three starts off when an assembled team of the army moves in to kill the rest of the monkeys. The team luckily gets the job done without many flaws which concludes to the news reporters not receiving any information. Following up on this a new quicker way to test is developed to see if there is signs of Ebola but none of the workers have any signs to work with. When Nancy Jaax's dad ends up dying although the army leaves the building and hands it back over to the arms of Dalgard. A few months later they receive another virus killing an outmost 80% of the monkeys which seems like it may be more like a flu.The strain mutates but somehow it just easily passes through humans without actually killing. In the end they just let the monkeys die on their own without any help.In this chapter once again another family member of Nancy's dies but there is no significant trace to why that connects with the story. Another factor that was a shock was how quickly the ebola strain mutated into a flue like virus called Ebola Reston.It it was deadly it wold have called an epidemic such like how quickly H5N5 virus could mutate and that if it became suddenly contagious everyone would be in giant trouble.
~Homework #6 The Hot Zone: Part 4
At the very end of this book in the last section of the book Richard Preston, the author talks about his own personal experience in the hunting down of the ebola virus and showing off his opinions. He started off by talking about his trip to Africa and a highway called "Aids Highway". He explains how the aids disease spread rapidly amongst humans, says how ebola virus could do the very same. He brings you back to the beginning of the novel where it call began in Africa on his trip is to visit Kitum Cave where Charles Monet who contracted the virus and soon enough died. Richard goes into further dept about the cave by explaining that everything he saw. He talked how you could seeing aligator teeth from long ago before the cave and mountain was ice, and about all of the buffalo and elephant tracks that were there within the cave. He later noticed spiders and webs that he thought to himself at that moment that spiders could be the animals that are the vector of this disease. They could easily bite humans and infect them. He then finishes the story by going to the monkey house to look through window and notices plants growing inside and knowing that "It will be back".In my personal onion I do not think that the author could have ender the book in a better ending. Although it as a very long book and hard to read at some points throughout the middle it made it all worthwhile. The author looking for ebola or writing about his own experience came out of no where for me. I enjoyed how he shared his own experience and thoughts. Another surprise was Richard's thoughts on the possibility of it being spiders to be the vector to this virus when even the highest ranked scientists in virology couldn't figure out the carrier. In the end this book still leaves lingering thoughts of if they have discovered where ebola hides and if not, how come they have yet to do so. Knowing that there is a chance "It will be back" is frightening because we cant tell or know how deadly or contagious the new strain will be in the possible future.
~Personal Post #1 Epidemic in History: H1N1
H1N1 is epidemic in history that we can all relate to. Swine flu came from pigs which people usually do not get, but that all changed in March 2009. The effects consisted of fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The was taken very seriously since it could spread very quickly from person to person.Unfortunately, swine flu is a respiratory infection. It weakens your immune system to attack major organs...especially your lungs. From there it can lead to pneumonia, which can kill you. The flu can also cause secondary infections in your body — any of which can lead to failure of vital organs and death.
Resources:
Medicine plus. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/h1n1fluswineflu.html
CBC News. (2009, July 21). Swine flue: faq. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2009/04/24/f-swineflu-faq.html
(2009). Swine flu statistics . (2009). [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.marketresearchmedia.com/2009/05/07/h1n1-swine-flu-statistics-continue-to-rise/
~Personal Post #2 Alcohols' Underestimated Effects
It is not hard to say that alcohol has a noticable effect on a person's behavior whether it be blurred vision, difficultly walking or fractured memory. All of this which goes without saying that alcohol has an effect on the brain.Alcohol does not just effect one part of the brain, but several. It contracts brain tissue and depresses the central nervous system as well as destroys multiple brain cells that cannot regenerate. Once it reaches the brain it messes with the messaging between nerve cells by interacting with the receptors on some cells. The result of this effects the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA that gives a person the familiar sluggish feeling.
Some may say these effects are not too bad until it comes to the point where alcoholics are in play. An alcoholic is said to have a smaller, shrunken brain according to
Symposium speakers at the October 2004 Congress for the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Mannheim, Germany. Your brain has an outside layer known as the cerebral cortex that controls most of your activities. This is filled with nerve cells that connect to different cortical regions plus neurons inside the brain and spinal cord. These nerve fibres make white matter which has the 'hard wiring' of the brain. Alcohol appears to be particularly harmful to the "white matter" or "hard wiring" of the brain that follows to cause shrinkage or retraction of neuronal dendrites. The only way to be 100% safe is with abstinence.
University of Sydney (2006, June 10).Cause of brain shrinkage in alcoholics studied. Retrieved from http://alcoholism.about.com/od/brain/a/blus050614.htm
"Human Brain." Photograph. NIAAA. First Last. 2004. Web. 10 Oct 2011. <http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm>.
~Personal Post #3 Meditation Benefits
Meditation is a practice of concentrated focused on: a sound, object, visualization, breath, or movement. It helps reduce stress, increase relaxation and enhance personal plus spiritual development.Those who take the time out of their schedules regularly to meditate will overall feel a boosted feel of calmness. This fact is proven by neuroscientists that say by altering brain-wave patterns, the discipline removes negative thoughts. Meditators are also calmer in simple aspects of life such as their response to stress. They are said to have a better performance at tasks that require more focused attention. Other researchers also think that the same brain changes could boost physical benefits such as: lowering blood pressure or preventing disease.
In 2005 Dalai Lama lectured at Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. about himself meditatating for 4 hours daily, but it is hard work. He suggested that if neuroscientists could find a method to put electrodes in his brain to create the same outcome he would be first in line. That being said, a set of experiments are now in process from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University to make his wish a reality. They managed to induce in mice a brainwave pattern assoicated with meditation.
So why not get up and try meditation for yourself?:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR3dM-GlZK8
Resources:
Talan, J. (February/March, 2006). Science Probes Spirituality. Scientific Americans, Retrieved from http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=FE043ADA-2B35-221B-65500BA1D8EBA2F7
Reiner, P. B. (November/December, 2009). Meditation on Demand.Scientific Americans, Retrieved from http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=962B8056-237D-9F22-E8338E65DA04D2F5
Relax - buddhist meditation music - zen garden - kokin gumi [Web]. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR3dM-GlZK8
Farlex. (n.d.). Meditation. Retrieved from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/meditation
(2010). Insight meditation. (2010). [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.insightmeditation.org.nz/wiki/
~Personal Post #4 Pneumonia
Unfortunately for the past week I have been stuck in bed with pneumonia..so what better time to do a wiki post than this?For starters lets clarify what pneumonia really is, I know when the doctor told me I wasn't entirely sure either.
Pneumonia in simpliest form is the infection of the lungs that is caused by fungi, or parasites but mainly bacteria and viruses. When you breathe in pneumonia-causing germs into your lungs your body's immune system cannot otherwise prevent entry. The organisms will settle in small air sacs called alveoli and from there will multiply. As your body sends out their white blood cells to attack the infection-the sacs become filed with fluid and pus, therefore causing pneumonia. At times it can be a very serious condition, pneumonia can make a person very sick or even cause death- super fun fact...The disease can occur in young and healthy people, but it is most dangerous for older adults, and babies.
Common symptoms your body may go through are:
To be diagnosed it begins with a physical exam and a discussion about your symptoms and medical history. A doctor may suspect pneumonia if they hear coarse breathing, wheezing, crackling sounds, or rumblings when listening to the chest through a stethoscope. This can follow with an x-ray to confirm the location and extent in the lungs.
Luckily there is a cure that is treated with antibiotics in my case, whereas viral pneumonias are treated with rest and plenty of fluids and fungal pneumonias are usually treated with antifungal medications. Although in all cases it is important to purchase over-the-counter medications for reducing fever, reducing aches and pains, and suppressing coughs.
Resources:
Crosta, P. B. (2009, May 28). What is pneumonia? what causes pneumonia?. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151632.php
~Personal Post #5 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder affects about 2.2 million adults. It is an anxiety disorder that has the results of recurrent, unwanted thoughts(obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors(compulsions). This is commonly shown through obsessive hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. This problem is normally accompanied by eating disorders, other anxiety disorders, or depression which can lead to alcohol addictions to calm the situation. This is very close to my heart. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has been something that effected me at a young age and lingers into the life that I still life today. My parents always tell me stories of how I used to go to the supermarket's and would organize all the shelves, or would cry until I got something done perfect.If someone is obsessed with germs or dirt, this is where the compulsion to repeatly wash their hands comes into play.
If someone is obsessed with intruders, they may lock and relock their doors over and over before heading to bed.
If someone is afraid of social embarrassment, they may comb their hair compulsively in front of a mirror until perfect.
If someone is struggling with order and symmetry, they could struggle with throwing things out or letting go which can lead to a common term of hoarding.
Yes, I'm sure just because these signs are there doesn't always conclude to OCD. The difference is that people who do have OCD perform these trials even when it starts to interfere with their lives. Symptoms are capable of coming and going, easing or worsening. Fortunately, in conclusion; medications are available when needed which can be achieved after visiting a family doctor that you are comfortable speaking to that can lead you to the right direction and better life.
Resources:
(n.d.). Obsessive-complusive disorder. Retrieved from The National Institute of Mental Health website: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml
~Personal Post #6 Pimples
It is a very well known fact that pimples are something that no one ever enjoys. It hard to think why it has to happen to you and how to get rid of the nasty little problem best. A pimple is a small papule (solid, rounded bumps that arise from the skin) or pustule (a small rounded bump filled with puss). Pimples are oil glands that are infected by bacteria and eventually fill with puss. What causes pimples is the sebaceous glands that are tiny skin glands which sebum (an oily substance that is used to lubricate the skin and hair) overacts. The sebaceous glands are located inside the pores of your skin. Pimples are known to occur when dead skin cells are left behind and are stuck together by the sticky sebum, which then causes a blockage in your pores. Then once the blockage happens the sebum has a bacteria called "Propionibacterium acnes". This leads to acne which is a harmless bacteria but concludes in the problem of pimples.The best ways to prevent acne is to mostly wash your face with warm water and soap gently, do not pop your pimples because that could lead to scarring and ultimately increase the swelling and redness, avoid touching your face, wash and use antibacterial products, and keep your hair clean so oils and sebum from your hair will not clog up your pores either.
Another way to think of it is that ultimately you are what you eat.
If you are a lover of green tea it is an anti-oxidant an anti-inflammatory agent that'll actually keep bacteria at ease.
Water is a way that you know that you are never going wrong. A plentiful of water will refresh your pores and your whole body.
Mangoes have a plentiful amount of vitamin A which will help and repair your skin. This can help prevent your skin from looking flakily and dry.
Cottage Cheese has selenium which can equal to young looking skin
Almonds are much like cottage cheese in the sense that it will prevent premature aging skin and helps keep it well moisturized.
Lastly, avocados help skin that is red irritated or even blotchy.
References:
Christian Nordqvist , C. (2010, June 11). What are the treatments for pimples? how can i treat my pimples? [Web log message]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/191530.php
Danial Faris, D. (Designer). (2011). Oh pimples. well. let just say pimple. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://mrdanialfaris.blogspot.com/2011/07/oh-pimples-well-let-just-say-pimple.html
Stenson, Jacqueline. (2003, December 11). Does what You eat affect your skin?. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076467/
~Personal Post #7 Sleep Deprived
Exams are creeping up on us again and ultimately the answer to this is lack of sleep. For whatever reason it may be that keeps you up at night, a long night most of the time will always end up in a long day. Sleep deprivation is something that has become almost too normal and underestimated. Whether it be exams, stress, relationship issues or what have you it is a problem that is unhealthily and non-beneficial for everyone that can lead to insomnia. Insomnia is a common sleeping disorder that involves people who struggle falling asleep, staying asleep or even sometimes both. They may get too little sleep sometimes or have poor sleeping qualities in general. This can conclude to not feeling refreshed when they wake up and the chances of having a less successful day. It can lasts for a month or longer. It can make you feel anxious, depressed, or irritable. You could easily struggle staying on task, paying attention, learning and even remembering. All of this as you can imagine can make stop you for exceeding your best at school or your day to day life. It is possible to cure this problem and the sooner the better.In order to cure this problem it is best if you start away from caffeine, tobacco and other stimulants because the effects of these substances can last for as long as 8 hours unknowingly. Another way to help insomnia is to cut back on certain over the counter prescription medicines, and alcohol usage. Instead of all of these things try doing things before bed that winds you down such as reading a book, taking a bath or soothing music and having a sleeping schedule that remains the same even on weekends.
References:
National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Insitute. (2011). What is insomnia?. Retrieved from website: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/inso/
~Personal Post #8 Twins
Twins are formed after sexual reproduction when the egg of the female has been fertilized by the males sperm. For everyone else, the cell just begins to grow and multiply like most cases. Although the difference is for twins the cell separates into two cells with the same nucleus. Since both cells have identical nucleus' the chromosones inside of those nucleus' are the same, and that's how twins are made. Although regardless of what you've heard, twins are not completely identical. Though their cells are identical, the genetic information carried by the mitochondria are different. A different set of twins is fraternal twins which is when the mother drops two eggs down instead of one, and they each are fertilized by a different sperm. Fraternal twins is also a hereditary trait, carried by the mother's side of the family instead of the fathers.The last set of twins is conjoined twins that is very rare and happens when the cell divides into twins too late.
References:
Better Health Living, Initials. (ND). Twins - identical and fraternal. Retrieved fromhttp://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Twins_identical_and_fraternal
~Personal Post #9 Cracking your Knuckles
Like many other people I have developed the habit of the dreadful cracking and popping of my knuckles. Regardless of how many times I hear that I'm going to get arthritis when Im older I can't stop. Although this got me thinking of what that popping sound really is when Im cracking them, is it as harmful as everyone leads on? Studies show that there is no connection between cracking knuckles and arthritis at all. All of this time all that it has been was a myth. Although they did not prove a link between the two there was evidence that very excessive knuckle cracking could cause a loss of grip strength or even swelling around the joints. All of the times when you are cracking your knuckles or what have you, you are subjecting the tendons and bones to an unnatural pressure. Over a long period of time, body tissues do not recover from such manipulations as they used to. This can create the same types of joint pain as professional athletes endue. So, is it's not harming you what is that sound that you hear? When you crack your knuckles, the popping is a gas bubble escaping from between your joints. The knuckles bone ligaments and tendons are surrounded by a think liquid that is called "synovial fluid". Over time, this fluid then becomes filled with tiny bubbles of fas. Whenever you push or pull on the joints to crack them, the tendons and ligaments then become stretched out and the knuckle bone separate slightly. When the synovial fluid tries to fill in this gap, the gas bubbles combine to form one large bubble. This bubble then makes the familiar cracking noise to make room for the fluid to fill in the space between your knuckle bones again which after approx. 25-30 minutes there should then be enough gas built up to start all over again.
Reference:
Pollock, Michael. "Is it harmful to crack my knuckles?." Wise Geek. conjecture corporation, 25 October 2010. Web. 26 Oct 2010. <http://www.wisegeek.com/is-it-harmful-to-crack-my-knuckles.htm>.
~Personal Post #10 The Hot Zone - Spin Off: HIV
The Hot Zone touched base on AIDS. The most common knowledge is that AIDS comes from the virus HIV. Aids(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) which is caused by HIV(Human Immuno-deficiency Virus), is known as one of the most known sexually-transmitted diseases known. It first started to appear 25 years ago and quickly made it's way around the world. Today there is 3 million cases all throughout the world. But where did this come from? HIV came from chimpanzees living in Central Africa. Authorities say that the virus strain has been found throughout the chimps for thousands of years. It is known as an RNA virus that can mutate into many different strains that can affect many different hosts in its path. Researchers claim that HIV must have entered humans in African hunter's bodies perhaps through wounds while hunting the chimps and from there made it's trip. HIV does not directly make you sick but weakens your immune system making get ill easier. The strain of virus enters your body and attacks your CD4 T cells and then replicates. The virus then begins to kill these cells without warning or any symptoms. The CD4 T cell depletion during AIDS allows various pathogens to escape T cell recognition, thus allowing infections that would normally elicit a helper T cell response to bypass the immune system. The being the case after years of living with this disease, your body is no longer strong enough to fight. The worst part about HIV is that there is no cure but researchers will never stop trying to fight off this horrible disease.
References:
Sam Hadley, H. (2009, December 6). Where did aids come from?. Retrieved from http://tafj.org/2009/12/06/where-did-aids-come-from/
Mark Cichocki, C. (2009, June 7). Symptoms of hiv - what does hiv do to your body?. Retrieved from http://aids.about.com/od/frequentlyaskedquestions/f/hivdo.htm